By Lil Miss Fitness, LLC

30 day challenge wrap-up

It did not go as successfully as I would have liked… that being said I get just as frustrated as the rest of you with my weight, body fat, diet, health, etc. This time was no exception and probably one of the most frustrating times that I’ve had. I will say right up front, that the diet and exercise are not to blame for not seeing results.. i still believe in the principles of the paleo diet and in regular exercise completely.

There are a couple of reasons:1. Too much pressure. I was constantly thinking about the food I was eating and whether I was making a mistake, if it was paleo or not (even though I know what I can and can’t have!) I have never thought about what I was eating that much before. Mentally it was a struggle and honestly got me down quite a bit.

2. Possibly not enough sleep. I am now working towards 7-8 hours of sleep and seeing if that was the problem.

3. Stress! We all have it and I’m no exception. I’ve had trouble managing it recently and am working on it.

4. Cheat days. There are mixed results on these, but I need them to be successful. With eating a paleo diet, I need a day where I can still have a primal cheat day and eat dairy (hello, i miss cheese!!) and can eat grains which are gluten free. I still try to stay clear of gluten but I need a break so I’m adding back in 3 cheat meals/week.

I can honestly say that I stuck to the challenge for 27 days (not the full 30!) and saw absolutely no results. I stopped 3 days early because I became so mental about what I was eating and how much I was working out that I just couldn’t mentally take it anymore. I’m a counter and always have been. I usually keep logs of food, exercise, etc. and I didn’t for the 30 days. Instead I ate pale, worked out every day, and just stayed way too mentally involved in what I was doing every second. I’m back to logging now and while for some that seems like a very Type A mentally consuming process, for me it helps me focus and put everything on paper. Then it’s off my mind and I can move on.

As I mentioned before, I have grown very frustrated with the lack of progress I’ve seen but I am making the changes with trying not to focus too much on every second, sleeping more, and working on stress management techniques as well. I’ll continue to keep you updated and for now just know that even those of us in the business and who live this day in and day out still get frustrated and need help.